Mortgages Blog

Where loan limits rise in 2014

Mortgage loan limits will rise in 18 counties next year, and will remain the same everywhere else.

The 2014 conforming mortgage loan limit will remain $417,000 in most counties, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The limit will be higher in 168 expensive counties,* to a maximum of $625,500, in pricey places like San Francisco, New York City and Sun Valley, Idaho.

When 'jumbo' doesn't mean a big ol' tub o' popcorn

A mortgage for an amount higher than the conforming loan limit is called a jumbo loan. The interest rates on jumbo mortgages tend to be higher than interest rates for conforming loans. In the last few months, there has been little difference between jumbo and conforming rates, but I don't expect that phenomenon to last forever.

FHFA says it didn't reduce the conforming limit in any counties, but that it raised the limit in "several" counties. Then, annoyingly, the agency didn't list the counties where it raised the limit. So, by hunting down a spreadsheet with the 2013 limits, and doing some copying and pasting and subtracting and filtering, I've done what FHFA should have done for us: Created a list of the 18 counties where the conforming limits will be higher in 2014.

You're welcome.

Counties where loan limits rise in 2014

County Name

State

2014 limit

2013 limit

Difference

Garfield

CO

$625,500

$417,000

$208,500

Kalawao

HI

$657,800

$626,750

$31,050

Maui

HI

$657,800

$626,750

$31,050

Camas

ID

$625,500

$417,000

$208,500

Lincoln

ID

$625,500

$417,000

$208,500

Essex

MA

$470,350

$465,750

$4,600

Middlesex

MA

$470,350

$465,750

$4,600

Norfolk

MA

$470,350

$465,750

$4,600

Plymouth

MA

$470,350

$465,750

$4,600

Suffolk

MA

$470,350

$465,750

$4,600

Rockingham

NH

$470,350

$465,750

$4,600

Strafford

NH

$470,350

$465,750

$4,600

Dutchess

NY

$625,500

$417,000

$208,500

Orange

NY

$625,500

$417,000

$208,500

Gates

NC

$458,850

$417,000

$41,850

Buckingham

VA

$437,000

$417,000

$20,000

Culpeper

VA

$625,500

$417,000

$208,500

Rappahannock

VA

$625,500

$417,000

$208,500

Why loan limits went up

In some cases, the loan limits are higher because house values went up, according to FHFA. In other cases, loan limits are higher because boundaries for metropolitan areas were redrawn. When a high-cost metro area absorbs a new county, the loan limit in that county goes up.

Loan limits in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Virgin Islands are $625,500, except for the Hawaii counties of Maui and Kalawao, where it's $657,800.

* When I wrote that loan limits are higher in 168 counties, I meant in the 48 contiguous states, because limits are higher in all Alaska and Hawaii counties. Also, I counted fast, so it might not be exactly 168.

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